Northern Coast

Northern Coast

The coastal plain in north-western Somalia is called the Guban, which runs parallel to the Gulf of Aden for about 240 kilometers between Saylac in the west and Berbera in the east. The Guban plain gradually narrows from 56 kilometers in the west to 6 kilometers in the east. The sandy and low-lying area is generally characterized by very high temperatures and humidity, very little rainfall and sparse steppe vegetation. The plains are crossed by wide and shallow seasonal streams, giving way to the Galgodon plateau in the south. The watercourses are essentially dry sand basins except in the rainy season. As the rains arrive, the low bushes and grassy knots in the Guban turn into lush vegetation. This shoreline is part of the Ethiopian xeric grassland and shrubland ecoregion. The region is tectonically very active and is subject to a number of earthquakes related to the ongoing expansion of the Rift Valley. Volcanoes in the ecoregion are also periodically active. The bedrock is mainly composed of Tertiary lava flows, although at the northern end there are also Quaternary bedrock deposits, and pre-Cretaceous bedrock deposits along the northern coast of Somalia. Among the mammals found here is the last Somali Wild Ass, which is found in the wild on Eritrea's Buri Peninsula. Other grazers include the Beira, the Dorcas Gazelle, the Soemmerring’s Gazelle, the Gerenuk and the Beisa Oryx. The only truly endemic mammal is the Berbera Gerbil. There are several dry habitat reptiles, among them endemic geckos, like the Arnold's Leaf-Toed Gecko and Parker's Pigmy Gecko. Endemic birds include the Archer's Lark.